A. Field of the Invention
The device of the present invention generally relates to molded case circuit breakers and, more particularly, to handle position indicators for molded case circuit breakers.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Circuit breakers and, more particularly, molded case circuit breakers are old and well known in the prior art. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,186,251; 2,492,009; 3,239,638; 3,525,959; 3,590,325; 3,614,685; 3,775,713; 3,783,423; 3,805,199; 3,815,059; 3,863,042; 3,959,695; 4,077,025; 4,166,205; 4,258,403; and 4,295,025. In general, prior art molded case circuit breakers have been provided with movable contact arrangements and operating mechanisms designed to provide protection for an electrical circuit or system against electrical faults, specifically, electrical overload condition, low level short circuit or fault current conditions, and, in some cases, high level short circuit or fault current conditions. Prior art devices have utilized an operating mechanism having a trip mechanism for controlling the movement of an over-center toggle mechanism to separate a pair of electrical contacts upon an overload condition or upon a short circuit or fault current condition. Many prior art devices have included a manually engagable handle that extends exteriorly of the circuit breaker both for engagement by an operator to open, close or reset the circuit breaker after a trip operation and for visually indicating the operational condition of the circuit breaker, that is, whether the operating mechanism of the circuit breaker is in its OPEN, CLOSED or TRIPPED position. Many prior art circuit breakers also have the words "ON" and "OFF" molded in the case of the circuit breaker for indicating those positions of the handle and contacts of the circuit breaker.
While many prior art devices have provided adequate protection against fault conditions in an electrical circuit, a need exists for dimensionally small molded case circuit breakers capable of fast, effective and reliable operation and including externally visually discernible indicia for clearly indicating the position of the internally disposed operating mechanism and contacts of the circuit breaker.